Automatic safety brake-lock for automobiles and other vehicles.



G. E. R. ROTHENBUCHER.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY BRAKE LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FIL E D AUG.2B. I914. Patented June 15,

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

\gggg ///mw .m. +8 WM G. E. R. ROTHENBUCHER. RAKE LOCK FOB AUTOMOBILES AND 0mm VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.28. i914. V

Patented June 15, 1915.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY B 6. %ya&

GEORGE E. B. vB0THEN]!UCHER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIG-NOR OF ONE-HAIL! 1'0 ISIDOB, KAHN', OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Annemarie earner enema-Loon Iron euromomnn's AND ornnn VEHICLES.

masses.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915 Application filed. August 28, 1914. Serial No. 859,020. i

To all whom it may concern:

BUCHER, a citizen of the United States, and

resident of the borough of Bronx, county of Bronx, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Automatic Safety Brake-Locks for- Automobiles and other Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

One of the important objects of this invention is to. provide means for automatically locking the brakes applied, said locking means being releasable by a special key, whereby the brakes cannot be released without the special device.

Another important object of the invention is to provide means whereby the brake lever will be lockedwith the brakes applied when the clutch operating lever is fully released.

There are other important objects and advantages of the invention which will appear more fully hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a'portion of an automobile frame, the dashboard and foot-board being shown insectional view; Fig. 2 a horizontal sectional view through the locking device; Fig. 3 a transverse sectional view on the line III-III of Fig. 2, the jaws being in their locked position; Fig. 4 a longitudinal sectional view'on the line IVIV of Fig. 2,

V the jaws being in their locked position; Fig.

5 a detail View of the upper end of the trip lever showing the tripping cam approaching its set position; Fig. 6 an end viewof the releasing key; Fig. 7 a detail side-elevation of the mechanism connecting the clutch lever with the trip lever; Fig. 8 a

plan view of the devices shown in Fig.7;

Fig. 9 an enlarged sectional view of the key- Fig. 10 a detail view of the cam shaft which operates the locking dogs.

Referring to the various parts by numerals, l designates the frame of an automobile, 2 the dash and 3 the foot-board.

4s designates the usualhood over the engine and 5 the body.

B designates the brake lever and C the clutch lever.

Under the foot-board is arranged a casing 6 which contains the locking devices, said casing bein'g rigidly secured in place by screws or other fastening means which are passed through the base flange 7 thereof. The forward portion of this casing is verticallyslotted as at 8 said vertical slot being centrally located and passing entirely through the casing. The casing is so located with respect to the brake lever that when the said lever is thrown forward to apply the brakes it enters the slot 8 and passes to the inner end thereof. Mounted within the easing on two vertical pins are two horizontal; locking jaws 9. These j aws' are formed with.

rearwardly extending operatingarms 10 on the under side of which near the rear ends thereof, are depending cam lugs 11. Each locking jaw carries a depending stop pin 12 which is adapted to engage the wall 13 when the jaws'are moved to their locked position. Interpo'sed between the rear ends of the op crating arms 10 is a strong coil spring 14, v

said spring serving to throw the jaws to their locked position when the cam lugs .11

are released, as will be presently described-. 1

j 15 is a'post filling the space between the locking jaws adjacent their pivots.

Extending through the casing 6 below the lugs 11 is an operating cam shaft 16. This shaft is provided with two setting cams 17 which are adapted to engage the beveled surfaces of the lugs 11 when the shaft is rotated. These cams are so placed that upon the rotation of the shaft they engage the beveled portions of lugs 11 and force the the locking dogs to their open or released position for the purpose of releasing the locking jaws, in which position the rock shaft is held stationary until it is tripped, K

earns 18 which are spaced so that whenthe' operated means for releasing the lock; and

lugs 11 are'released from cams 17 and are thrown outwardly by the coil springfl t a brings the cams 18 against the inner side, of the lugs 11 and prevents any pivotal move ment of the locking jaws. By means of these cams 18 the locking jaws cannot be released from the brake lever by any means applied to the jaws, and said ,jaws can only be re:

will be briefly hereinafter described; The rock shaft 16 is also provided with a central tripping cam 19 which is adapted to be engaged by the upper end of a tripping lever slight further rotation of the rock shaft. '1

ice

10d leased through the special devices which,

. ect being to 20 on the upper end 'of which is secured a tripping dog 21., This dog is pivoted and is maintained in itsnormal operative position by a coil spring 22 whichenclrcles a depending arm 23 carried by the dog and a ivoted device carried by the lever, the obyieldingly hold said'dog in operative position, and to permit it to yield and allow the tripping cam and the cam shaft to pass thereunder to its tripping position, said dog immediately returning to its normal position after the passage of the tripping cam. When the cam shaft is 1nposition to lock the jaws 9 in thir open position the tripping cam 19 bears against the forward edge of the tripping dog as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. When the tripping lever is thrown forward as Wlll be presently described, the cam shaft is rotated through the tripping dog pressing against the'rear side of the tripping cam. This movement of the cam shaft is suflicient to carry the cams 17 away from the cam lugs 11, thereby releasing the locking aws. Said'movement is also sufficient to bring the locking cams 18 in position to engage the inner faces of the lugs 11 and thereby prevent the opening of the jaws 9 until the cam shaft is further rotated.

The trip lever is pivoted at 24 and to the lower end thereof. is secured a rod 25, said connection being by means of a pin and slot 26. The rod 25 is connected to one end of a -tro-arm rocking lever 27, the other end said lever being connected to a clutch lever C by a rod 28. A coil spring 29 returns the clutch lever to its normal released position. The slot 26 permits of the opera tion of the clutch lever in the usual manner without operating the trip lever 20. Said lever is not operated until the clutch lever has returned to its fully'released position.

' to slide on said stop ring 35 rings being held Any suitable special device may be'used for returning the cam shaft to its set position and thereby releasing the clutch lever. The special device shown in the drawings is adapted to be operated by a simple but. specially constructed rotatable key. EX-

tending outwardly from the casing'is a tube 30 in which is located a the cam shaft. To the end of this extension 31 are secured a pair of parallel out-- wardly extending rigid pins Mounted 33; and in theouter end of this follower block "is a stop ring 35. -A coil spring 36 holds the follower block or head in its outer position and entirely covering the outer ends of the rigid pins 32." Interposed between the rotatable and the follower block is a stop ring 37, both of said against longitudinal movesecond rotatable cam extension 31 of l pins is a head or follower pin 34 which is adaptedto; engage the inner side of a rotatable stop' ment in the tube. The ring 35 is provided with two rectangular apertures and ring 37 is provided with one large rectangular aperture. The operating key 38 is provided with two long key-bars 39. These bars fit the apertures in ring 35 and may pass through'the aperture in the ring 37 when the two'rin s are brou lght into proper adjustment an register. he inner ends of the key-bars engage the follower block adjacent the ends of the rigid pins 32 and then by forcing the key inwardly said follower block is pressed against the spring 36 and the ends of the pins 32 uncovered. These pins are so placed that they faces 40 at the inner ends of the key-bars, as shown clearly in Figs. 6 and 9. It is manifest that by rotating the key when it .is in this position the rock shaft will be rotated. It is manifest that the cam shaft cannot be rotated to release the brake lever ex- 'cept by means of the proper key.

In setting the lock, the cam shaft'16 1s rotated by means of the key 38, orby other suitable means in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 4 and 5, this will cause the cam 17 to engage the cam lugs 11 on the locking jaws and to force them inwardly toward each other, thereby swinging outwardly the jaws 9. When the jaws 9 have been swung to their full openposition,

-' the tripping cam 19 engages the forward p ngca'm, the operator knows that the de-' vice 1s in its set position with the jaws 9 locked in'their open position. When it is desired to lock the brake lever, the clutch lever is moved to its extreme position of release. This causes the tripping lever 20 to swing back toward the forward end of the carand moves the tripping dog' 21 against the cam 19, thereby rotating the cam [shaft-"16 sufliciently to release the lugs 11 from the cam 1?. The moment these lugs are released the aws 9 aresnapped to their locked position by the spring 14. The rotation of the shaft 16, through the movement of the tripping dog 21, is sufficient to bring the locking lugs 18 into the path of the lugs 11 and on the inner sides preventing the opening of the shaft 16 is rotated by Any suitable, means may" be employed for moving the tripping lever 20. It is thought,

the jaws 9. until 1 2 5 thereof, thereby the proper key.

necttsa d 'trip. device with a clutch le r to operate said however, that properly adjusting the connections lever is at the extreme position, without undue danger between" said lever and the clutch lever, the lock: may-be advantageously tripped through the clutch ,lev'ervvhen Said. limits'of its released of locking. the'brake lever unintentionally. The means shownfor operating the tripping lever-20 adopted. for operating through the movement of the clutch lever is merely one of the methods which maybe the look. In settingthe lock and releasingthe brake lever, the

. clutch lever may j to *release the tripping lever-'21. There is,

. .Aniautomritmsafetv'brake lock com-.

' .prisin abrake locked position, a

be moved forward slightly:

however, sniiicient lost-motion in the clutch lever to permit this, to be done W thout in any -.tvay affecting the reparation in the 'l:utch.' .v 4 1 W at I'cl'aim is:

'1.- An automat c safety'brakeldck' prising 'a' brake-lever locking means, means {adapted ,t'o be-connected' to, aclutch lever "tor'release said brake lever locking means when the, clutch lever islnoved to its fully releasedposition v lever-locking means, means for ho dlng the lo king means in its une I vtripdevice to release said holding means and neansxadapted to c"ontrip. device when the clutch leveris movedto its fully released position.

ing said locking 3. Aniautmatic brake lock comprising a brakelever locking means, a spring for mov- "rotatable ,means ,fo r hiding" the locking 1 'meansopen andthe spr ngnnder tension,-a.

, trip devicefor releasing said. spring and 40 'means adaptedto connect said trip. device 4 to a clutch levervvhereby said trip device will be operated to release the locking means when the clutch lever is moved to its fully released position.v 1 I 4.'Anautomatic -safety..brake lock comprising a brake lever locking means; means -I for-ho1d1ng the locking meansin 1ts,11n-

' holding means,

key device for releasing the looking means and resettmg the trip .55

looked position, a trip devioe'to release said means adapted to. connect said trip device With a clutch'lever to opera ate said trip device when the. clutch lever is moved to' its fully released position and a connect said trip device. to a olntch lever to operate thetrlp device when the clutchand. a key deviee'adapted ingca'm lugecar jied by a d ar s, a cam compress the said spring, a pairof cams on said means to its locked position,

lever is moved to its fully released position to rotate the cam shaft to release thejavv's and device or the next operation- I '6. A safety of locking jaws, a brake lever adapted to be :received and locked in its set positionbysaid Set'fthe trip brake lookcom-prising a pair I jaws, a spring adapted to move said jaws to their 1" cked position, a'cam' shaft darrying" cams'adapted to move said javvs'to. their.

open position and to thereby compress the spring, a trip device'- to rotate the cam shaft and thereby release the locking jaws, a pairof earns on said camshaft adapted to hold: t jaws in h r locked .pdsition, means, to

oper'ate'the'trip device, and a removable key device forrotatin'g -the cam shaft to open the locking'javvs and reset the trip device;

7. A safety brake lock comprising a pair of locking jaws formed'with' rearwardly ex! tending operating arms, aspringinterposed between the rear ends of said arms, dependshaft, a pairof 'setting-camson said shaft adapted to engage 'sald dependlng lugs to move the jaws to their openfposition and sh ft adapted to engage sai dependlugs. to lock the javvscjlosed after said jaws have been released fromthe settingcams, a trip lever, a yieldab'le tripping dog on. theupper end of said level, a trip cam" [on the cam shaft-adapted'to be engaged by thesaid dog, means to operate the trip leve'r to'rotate the oanr shaft and a key device for rotating the cam shaft. to open the locking: jaws 'and reset the trip device 5 ling-means, a rotatable device for releasing said locking means-and for setting the same,

a .trip device'for operating,said rotatable.

means to release the. locking means, a .key-' device forr'otating' saidyshaft, for settingthe. locking meansand-thetrip device, said key'i device comprising a pair of longitudinally extehding keybare, a pair (pf-longitudinally jbars'to permit said'bar's t0 engage the' ends' 1 of theke'y pins and apair'of independently rotatable stop rings adapted .to permitfo't the passage of the key bars-Whensaid rings 1 l are 'in-propernrelation to each other said ring 7 be ng interposed between the key' vice and the yieldable plunger; In testimony whereof. Ihereunt'o affix'rny signature in the presence of two Witnesses I GEORGE E- R- ROTHENBUGKER.'

MINEIWA VArvAmaR.

4 copiesot this patent may boi obtainedxfor .five cents each, by addressing the commlssion'er of Patents,-

Washing ton, 15.79.

8'. A safety brake lock oomp'rlsing a 'lohk- 1 p 7 

